Six weeks after the disaster, the cause of the Grand-Bay blast remains unknown. The government is squeezed between the contradictory reports from forensic experts, and the dissatisfaction of the shopkeepers, who cannot have access to their work premises.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) submitted its final report to the prime minister, Paul Bérenger, at the end of the week. It confirmed their first conclusions in favour of “gas-fuelled cloud.” Experts Rex Stockham and Ronald Kelly are adamant that a gas explosion can lead to such damage. According to them, the explosion came from the Langouste Grisée, Benoit Ducray’s restaurant on the first floor.

The latter is dead against this conclusion. The South African forensic experts he called upon concluded that the blast was caused by explosives and they found traces of nitro-glycerine. The Forensic Science Laboratory shares this opinion and should soon give its written report to the government. The latter may then call upon experts from South Africa to finally shed light on this incident.

Meanwhile, the shopkeepers are still waiting to resume work in conditions as normal as possible after such a blast. The road in front of Grand-Bay Store is still closed to traffic. Tourists have deserted the nearby shops and restaurants. Their turnover has fallen drastically and some shopkeepers have already reduced their staff.

The prime minister, Paul Bérenger, said in Parliament last week, that the road would not be open to the public as long as the building has not been demolished. The question is when will this finally take place? Since two owners of the complex have obtained injunctions to prevent the demolition, things have not progressed so far. And the shopkeepers wonder how long their businesses can survive in such conditions…